Chapter 2
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REBBE SAID: WHICH IS THE STRAIGHT PATH THAT A MAN SHOULD CHOOSE FOR HIMSELF? THAT WHICH IS AN HONOR TO HIM THAT DOES IT, AND WHICH ALSO BRINGS HONOR FROM MANKIND.... BE HEEDFUL OF A LIGHT MITZVAH AS OF A GRAVE ONE, FOR YOU DO NOT KNOW THE GRANT OF REWARD FOR MITZVOS.... EVALUATE THE LOSS INCURRED BY THE FULFILLMENT OF A MITZVAH AGAINST THE REWARD [ACHIEVED BY ITS OBSERVANCE] AND THE GAIN GOTTEN BY A TRANSGRESSION AGAINST THE LOSS [IT INVOLVES].... REFLECT UPON THREE THINGS AND YOU WILL NOT COME TO THE HANDS OF SIN: KNOW WHAT IS ABOVE YOU... A SEEING EYE, AND A LISTENING EAR, AND ALL YOUR DEEDS ARE WRITTEN IN A BOOK. |
Rebbe Yehuda Hanasi, the Prince, is described by Rabbi Joseph Hertz in his commentary on Pirkei Avos, in the following manner: ".....the son of Rabban Shimon Hasheni (the 2nd) and a descendant of Hillel in the seventh generation..born in 135 C.E. on the day the Romans martyred Rabbi Akiva. He died in 219. He was the learned patrician, possessed of great wealth, enjoying the friendship of members of the Imperial House In his day the dignity of the Patriarch of Palestine was little short of that of an actual monarch.
"In the sphere of his spiritual labors, he made it his aim to insure unity of religious observance. He collected the decisions and opinions of earlier Teachers, noted those that were universally agreed to, and those that were not; and thus at last produced a code of the Traditional Laws that soon attained to Canonical rank. This is known as the Mishna.”
It is divided into six orders. The orders are divided into tractates; tractates into chapters, and chapters into paragraphs -- which are each spoken of as a Mishna. "The first order deals with agricultural laws [z'ra'im], preceded by Beracoth, the tractate on Prayer. The second order is on Festivals [Mo'aid]; and the third on laws of Marriage and Divorce [Na'shim]. The fourth is on civil legislation [n'zi'kin], and is concluded by Avos [the subject of our study] as an edifying supplement to this juristic section. The fifth deals with Sanctuary and food laws [Ka'dash'im]; and the sixth, with the laws of clean and unclean [Ta'ha'ros]. "The Mishna became the basis of elucidation..Gemara ....both in the Palestinian Schools those of Babylon. The final recensions of these elucidations constitute the Jerusalem Talmud [Talmud Yerushalmi (ca 350 c.e.)] and the Babylonian Talmud [Talmud Bavli (ca. 500 c.e.)]
So great was the esteem of his uncommon ability, wide culture and lofty character secured for Rebbe Yehuda Hanasi, that he was known simply as "Rebbe" or "our holy Master" ..." [Daily Prayer Book, (p 628) by the late Chief Rabbi of Great Britain, Joseph H. Hertz.
Rebbe postulates that life is a series of choices. Life is full of watersheds. Every crossroad demands a decision, and every step is a move into the unknown.
Which road to follow? Which path to pursue? Which career, which boy, which girl to select? Which investment to choose? Which friend to make? How do I choose between between personal desire and duty? love of country and my self-preservation? personal needs and the needs of my community? the needs of my family and the demands of my parents?
Rav Nachman of Bratislav, one of the great Baale Mussar of the last century addresses this problem. In his writings on "savlanus" ...tolerance, patience, he suggests that every human being seclude himself with Hashem... in his own room... in the forest, and talk to Him, as if he were consulting with a friend. Reveal your problem to Hashem, and weigh it honestly... and then come to the decision.No one can know that it will turn out for the best, that it is the correct choice. But act he must! and if it is guided by the principle that "provided he doesn't do evil" ...he must rely on Hashem that he will succeed. He has done his best.
The statement of our Rabbis regarding a person's sustenance has often puzzled me. They said: "kaw'she mezonosav shel adam, k'krias yam soof" ...the earning of a livelihood for a person is as difficult as the splitting of the Red Sea! It appears as a strange analogy, and rather perplexing, too. Who split the Red Sea? Hashem, of course! Now what's difficult for Hashem? The universe was created merely by the utterance of His word... so what is so difficult about splitting the sea? and what is so difficult for Hashem granting another few crumbs to his creatures?
It occurred to me that the subject of that statement is not G-d... but Man. If the analogy has meaning, we should look to its source for its understanding. What happened moments before the parting of the Red Sea as our ancestors fled Egypt? Pharaoh suddenly overcame his trauma and realized he just lost a nation of slaves. Bad enough his country was in ruin, first born killed... but why lose his slaves?
Behind the fleeing Jews raced the pursuing army of Egyptians. Before them was the impassible sea! What do we do? The Midrash relates the heated debate between the four factions that erupted at that moment at the sea. Others opted to return to Egypt as slaves... others opted to fight..and in the midst of this foray... it took the action of just one man... Nachshon ben Aminadav, the leader of the tribe of Judah... to resolve the matter. He knew he could not go back... and he knew not what lay before him... only the sea... and forward he must go!
The moment he jumped into the sea, the moment his foot touched the water... it split!!!! The decision a man must make for his livelihood, his future, is as difficult as the decision another man, Nachshin made at the Red Sea. It was fraught with peril; it involved risk. He could lose all... but he has to do!... and as Rav Nachman of Bratislav reminds... "u'bilvad she'lo ya'aseh rah..." provided he does not do any evil!
Torah is an action religion; it is not satisfied to be contemplative. We may think, we may emote, we may wax philosophical... but it must all lead to action and to a way of life expressed by mitzvohs.